Five #4
And he’d likely be waiting thirty more years. “I’m very particular. People get on my nerves. Half the world’s fake, the other half’s cruel. I have no interest in tying myself to artificial people who…” Why was he telling her all this? “I’m just a private person.”
“Yet you let me stay with you, in your home.”
Because she was different. “We’ve been through this. You had nowhere to go.”
She shook her head. “I don’t believe that. I think you’re a good man and you saw another man being mean to me and did the honorable thing. There is a word for that. You said it last night. What is it?”
“Chivalrous?”
“Yes. You are very much that, Elliot. Gallant. I think I like these things about you.”
Breathing deeply, he turned away. “Did you remember me? If I hadn’t mentioned Asher, would you have had any idea who I was?”
“No. But I have a lot of people come into my classes and never return. I did recognize you, once you jogged my memory.” She smirked.
“You were very tense in my class that day. You wouldn’t loosen up when I danced with you.
” A slow smile took form. “But I remember you gave me evil eyes when I left you to dance with your other friend, the one with the darker hair.”
“Jet.”
“Yes. He’s quite handsome from what I recall.”
His molars locked. Every woman noticed Jet. There weren’t many that escaped Jet’s attention either. “He’s popular.”
She laughed. “You say that as if we’re kids.”
“Well, he was popular then, too.” He shook his head never quite understanding how some people possessed such magnetic charm while others seemed repellent. “He’s charismatic.”
“That may be true, but that’s not where his sex appeal comes from. It’s his confidence. You feel it coming off him in waves and it draws women in. It’s not easy to resist, but a wise woman would.”
“Why?” There was plenty to envy about his friend but never enough to think badly of him.
“No woman wants to be second prettiest in a relationship. It’s too much work.”
He wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or offended. Wait. She was like Jet. She was too pretty, too exotic to go unnoticed by other men. “You and Jet have a lot in common.”
She giggled. “Perhaps, but I want to know what you mean by that.”
“People notice you. You’re confident—”
She held up a finger. “I’m not as confident as people assume.
I’m always nervous I’ll speak wrong or say something foolish and others will laugh at me.
People notice me because I’m foreign and look different.
Do you know what that tells me? That I’m not like everyone else when that’s all I’ve ever wanted to be.
I love being here, but as soon as I speak people look up and their opinions change right before my eyes, judging me on the spot. ”
“But you’re so … fearless. If they pay attention it’s only because you’re so striking.”
“Not always a good thing.” She shrugged. “Maybe there’s a stigma to being different. See that? I learned a new word.”
He chuckled. “Yes, you did.” He never considered she might have insecurities similar to his own. He thought about his mother’s words from earlier. “There’s nothing negative about diversity.”
“That is how America should be, no? We’re all mixed up here.
Everyone is different.” She smiled. “There is so much flavor. When my aunts offered to bring me here, my father fought with them. But I wanted to come here too much. I finally got my way.” She nudged his shoulder with hers.
“You Americans are a tricky bunch. You tell a woman how special she is, but it’s not very special at all if you tell every woman those things.
” Her lashes lowered as her gaze softened, freezing him in place.
“I wonder if you tell all the ladies they’re special. ”
He hardly spoke to women and never met anyone as unique as her. “I don’t.”
A playful purse twisted her lips. “What do you like in women, Elliot?”
Stumped, he blinked at her. “I never gave it much thought.”
“Oh, you are full of it.” She pushed on his chest, teasingly. “Every man wants something.”
“I just want to be happy.” He’d settle for good old contentment. So far, his greatest happiness came in isolated moments of satisfaction. Outsiders usually made him self-conscious.
“Do you believe in love?”
Love came with risks. “I don’t know if I believe in an unconditional love, aside from familial love. The rest seems illogical and mind-numbing.”
She giggled. “That’s the fun of it. I’m what they call a hopeless romantic.”
It didn’t sound fun to him. “I like feeling in control. I don’t want to balance my happiness on someone else’s.”
“You are a cynic, then?”
“I guess I am.”
She lifted their entwined hands and pressed her lips to his knuckles. His breath held as he watched her pouty mouth slowly pull away.
“When you get brave, you come find me and we’ll see if I can change your cynical mind … maybe even leave it a little numb.”
It was already happening. Surely that concoction she’d tried to poison him with had knocked him out and he was hallucinating. His voice seemed far away as he rasped, “What do you mean?”
She laughed. “You heard me. Don’t play dumb. I know you’re smart, with all your technologies and magic tricks. If you want to be brave and see if you’re wrong about love, I’ll be your experiment.”
What the hell was she offering? “Are you talking about sex?”
She shrugged. “That depends on you. You have to kiss the girl before ágytorna.”
“What is that?” Screw it. He was downloading a Hungarian eBook tonight. These language barriers were becoming a nuisance.
Leaning close, she smiled and whispered, “It means a good, solid fuck.”
His eyes widened and his blood solidified in his veins, burning his body from inside out. “Nadia…”
“Elliot…” she echoed with a bit of challenge, holding his stare. “Do you want to kiss me now?”
“Yes,” he rasped, but couldn’t find the strength to move a single muscle. At any moment he’d wake up.
Shutting his eyes, he willed himself awake. Wake up. Wake up! Wake—
The blankets shifted as the heat of her body touched him before anything else. Sweet breath teased his lips as his glasses slid off his face. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t open his eyes, and couldn’t do anything other than sit there in unadulterated panic.
Her soft lips pressed his. “Let me help you…”
Pulling in a long breath through his nose, he trembled as her mouth pushed against his.
He tensed as her fingers gently brushed his jaw and combed through his hair, traveling behind his ear.
When her tongue skated over his lips he jerked back, knocking his head against the headboard, he blinked at her.
“Good?”
“Why are you doing this?” Was it because she felt indebted? Pity?
“Because I think you’re very handsome and you rescued me last night when I really needed someone to save me from doing something stupid. Also because my aunt always told me a man who treats his mother nice will be kind to all women. Am I wrong?”
There was other stuff, but he’d lost focus after her first reason. “You think I’m handsome?”
She smiled. “Yes. You know you’re attractive.”
Her fingers pulled at his ear, the strangest little tug that seemed to reach down to his toes, stroking everything in between. He studied her, but everything was blurred.
Reaching for his glasses, he slipped them back on his face. His fingers hesitated, then detoured and traced the soft hair at her temple and his body tightened to the point of excruciating pain. She was so damn beautiful.
His thumb feathered over the outline of her lips and they twitched. Easing closer, he brushed his mouth against hers and she released the softest moan. That little hum seemed to vibrate his soul. With choppy breaths, he pulled back, waiting for her to tell him to stop, but she didn’t.
Her eyes softened, as did her shoulders. The strap of her bra showed, tempted, and he wanted to touch it, but wouldn’t.
She thought he was handsome. Him. There was no logical explanation, which only increased his skepticism. She was right. He was cynical. But he wasn’t an idiot and only an idiot would walk away from this situation without taking the opportunity of a lifetime.
This was Nadia, not some random woman. He’d fantasized about her since the day he walked into her studio.
“Elliot?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you done kissing me?”
Shit. He got distracted, his damn analytical mind weighing every aspect. “No. I was thinking.”
“About what?”
“You.”
“Oh?” Her brow lifted. “What were you thinking?”
“I can’t figure you out.”
She glanced away. “I’m not that complicated.”
“But you are. You… I thought about you, Nadia. It wasn’t like I had to stop and place you last night. I recognized you right away. As a matter of fact, you’re the only woman I’ve ever thought about at any length.”
“Me?” This seemed to genuinely please her as her cheeks darkened and her lips parted in a smile. “Why?”
“I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to figure out. For all my thoughts, not once did it cross my mind that you might someday be sitting in my bed asking me to kiss you. That … that kind of thing doesn’t happen.”
“Maybe it doesn’t happen because you’re not an opportunist with women.”